


Silentium

by TheWild



Series: Amorabundus [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: F/M, Just a drabble, One Shot, Romance, before two year skip, mostly from his pov, short but sweet, special appearance by Wado Ichimonji, the sword i cannot seem to find anywhere at belgian cons, you don't speak japanese and zoro gets frustrated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-19
Updated: 2017-02-19
Packaged: 2018-09-25 14:13:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9824081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWild/pseuds/TheWild
Summary: 4 times Zoro is annoyed at how you do not speak their language, and one time he enjoys it.





	1. Indubito

**Author's Note:**

> I had this in my head, but if you speak as much Japanese as me (which is more than limited) it would be kind of hard keeping up with the Strawhats.  
> And Zoro's always been my favourite character. It's going to be real short chapters but I'll post them all up at once.

 

It wasn't like he thought you had bad intentions: it's just that he had no idea what you were thinking. Nobody did. You are technically the first the join the crew. Luffy explained you fell from the sky and with a pat on your back, leaves it at that. That seems enough for him. 

Zoro doesn't like it.

You avoid his gaze as if you're scared of him. To be honest, most people did at this point. He might've hoped that because Luffy was so incredibly friendly you might be as well, but you are quiet. All the time.

It annoys him.

So much so, that on a quiet night when he's had a bit too much to drink, he slams his fist into the table during dinner and turns to you with a scowl on his face. He asks you why you're always quiet. And all you do is stare back. He sees the panic in your eyes, but it's not fear of him, per sé. It seems you are panicking because of the situation. 

He doesn't get much more time to observe your facial features as Nami knocks his head into the table.

"She doesn't speak the language, you dolt!"

It's one of those typical epiphanies: it takes him a few seconds to process what exactly the thief has said and when his brain is finally catching up to the words, he feels like a complete idiot. He was getting angry at someone because they couldn't speak the language.

* * *

He thought you would avoid him after that, but your attitude had seemed to shift from avoiding Zoro to trying very carefully to let him know that you were around. You'd help with the anchor, even though he didn't need it. You'd hand him a bottle the cook selected with a smile.

You are making him feel as though he was an idiot for distrusting you in the first place.

 


	2. Fatigo

He sees you breathing through ragged lungs and spots the way your tears mix with the sweat. You’re not a fighter, but you have to be. They’re a crew of monsters and you can’t trail behind.

You are looking at  the navigator as if it’s the only thing keeping you awake and your eyes shine with happiness that she is alright. All he had seen was you getting knocked out of Arlong Park through a particularly thick wall, and after that he'd had to focus on his own fight. But you don't go out to join the celebrations later on.

Even though you're cleaned up when you sit down next to him, he can see it. Your eyes are tired. Your mouth is stuck in a scowl but he can't tell you to smile, because you won't understand.

They won. You had no reason to feel bad anymore.

He takes a look at your arm. It's stitched up nicely, just like his chest, but it is a huge scar. He'd never seen you fight before this. He still doubted if you could, but you'd have to. 

They weren't even in the Grand Line yet.

You sit slouched down, with your arms crossed, the scar protruding forward and for some reason it irks Zoro. It annoys him. Why aren't you celebrating? He'd never seen you this struck down before. 

 _They won_.

* * *

You sit down in front of Zoro with the idea of offering him the drink. 

That quickly gets wiped off the table when you start thinking about the fight again: you are not born a fighter. You haven't trained all your life, like Sanji or Zoro. Hell, you hardly understood anything, how did they expect you to fight anyone? And even though Nami is safe now, you can't help but worry about what the future will bring.

You believe in your crew, sure, but there must be bigger monsters out there than them.

* * *

He hands you a platter with some food on it- melons, he thinks, he's not sure- just to see you do something else than stare at your mug with beer. He didn't know you drank. At least, you are giving off the impression, because you pay neither the drink nor the food any attention.

When he notices his drink is empty, he leaves to go get more.

 

 


	3. Epicinium

You never ask for explanations. Even though the idiot cook and Robin can communicate with you, you never ask. At this point, the only mutual information is names and unspoken quirks. It annoys him.

You don’t ask when Usopp and Luffy fight; you don’t ask why Robin isn’t coming back. Amidst the crew's turmoil you are quiet, seemingly staring into the void as you don’t leave his side.

He knew you liked sticking around him. The quiet understandings of battle were the only thing you needed to have in common, and he didn’t mind. He had gotten used to it, despite not wanting to. Despite trying to be wary all this time.

He was trying to be wary despite the fact that you entrusted your life to 7 people who had never once told you what you are on this ship for. Did you know? Did you even want to know? With the recent happenings in the crew he really wondered. And Zoro didn’t like wondering.

Everyone’s out to look for Robin as you both rest on the rooftop of the hotel. The aftermath of the duel is still ringing in everybody’s ears and it hadn’t escaped him how you’d squeeze Chopper’s hand every time you saw him, as if trying to make him feel any better. It didn't help. But you were better at it than he was. He was never good with sobbing people, unless they wanted him to beat someone up.

The sun is setting and the orange glow of the sky gives your eyes a certain depth he hadn't seen yet. 

Sometimes - every once in a while - he has the urge to speak to you. Not just hello's or goodbye's, like you understand at this point, but long-winded monologues of their adventures up until now. You don't judge. You don't question. 

You don't understand.

He'd found out by now that you knew 3 languages and you were trying your best to learn theirs. But there was hardly any time between adventures in the sky and their nakama being kidnapped by the World Government. 

But he'd seen you rush through pages of books trying to identify words with the help of Nami and Sanji.

You hadn't opened a book since they'd arrived in Water 7. He reckoned you did kind of understand what happened with Usopp; even if you didn't understand why they were fighting, it was pretty clear they were. 

* * *

 You were absentmindedly staring at the colourful sky as your head lulled back and forth. You needed sleep. You hadn't slept for days. Sanji kept telling you he'd explain later. Robin wasn't around anymore. Everything was ripping at the seams and you had no idea how to stop it.

When your head finally falls back onto the swordsman's shoulder, he leaves it there. He'll leave being wary for when they find out what is going on with Robin. 

He doesn't know when his head starts resting on yours but sleep takes him away eventually.


	4. Tranquillum

Things have finally calmed down. Everyone's back on the new ship. They have a new nakama who, despite walking around in a speedo, is reliable. Zoro can't help but check in with you ever so often. 

When Robin forcefully helps Luffy recruit Franky, he turns at the sound of your chuckle.

You happily join in the feast.

The weariness had left your eyes again. After every big battle, you would need a few days to get back to smiling. He wasn't the only one that knew; Nami went out of her way to help you learn more and Chopper kept a close watch as a doctor. Everyone was somehow scared that eventually you'd slip away behind the curtain of things you didn't know and they couldn't tell you yet.

At least, with Robin back, they had a translator back.

* * *

 Now that they have the Thousand Sunny, look-out duty is a lot more pleasant. You can sit inside, for one, on a soft couch with a blanket. It's a minor detail that Zoro's training materials are strewn across the room like a child forgot to clean up his toys. His very, very heavy toys.

You are only touching one of the barbells slightly, still in awe at the sheer size, when you jump up as the swordsman in question enters the room. You had noticed more and more frequently that he'd be around you. Not in an annoying way. He just was.

As he was tonight, when you were keeping watch. He seemed to be counting as he lifted the weights with ease.

* * *

Zoro only noticed you were sleeping on duty when he went to get a sip of his bottle of sake. Well, not his bottle. He may have _accidentally_ found it in one of the kitchen cupboards, hidden away...

Curious, he sat down next to you and watched you breathe carefully. The weariness was gone from your face but perhaps you had just learned how to hide it better. It's amazing really, how you had gone from a fragile, scared person to the person that was in front of him.

You hadn't hesitated for one moment at Enies Lobby. 

Blood had been pouring out of the wounds they had left on your body but you had stomped forward, leaning on the cook's shoulder, looking for Robin constantly.

He couldn't forget the happy sigh that had left your lips when you had seen her, safe and sound.

~~He couldn't forget your lips, either.~~

You'd been on his mind ever since then, as if his brain was telling him something. He didn't know what.

He thought it would go away by training more, but then you end up sleeping in the training room. During his training.

He decides, for once, you can sleep on the job, and looks outside the window. In the reflection, he can see you.

~~Luckily there was nobody here to notice that was what he was actually looking at.~~


	5. Aquam Sanctam

He doesn’t exactly know where he is when he wakes up. Everything is still a bit of a blur, but he does now he did the right thing. The crew is safe. Drowned out sounds begin to get clearer and louder and Chopper is haphazardly throwing on some more bandages as he becomes teary-eyed after noticing how the swordsman is waking up.

Every bone in his body hurts.

Nami’s out to get the others, to tell them the news, and apparently someone new has joined the crew, but as everyone scurries around, he sees you. Sitting by his side. Sleeping, probably. Dried tears are still resting on your cheek and you're clutching Wado Ichimonji as if that’s what’s keeping him alive.

He reaches out because the feeling in his gut tells him to, and he wipes at your cheek in the hopes that it would remove some pain for you.

 _Every_ bone in his body hurts, but he’s strong.

Your eyes flutter open almost instantly, suspecting –most likely- a prank by the captain or sniper until he sees them widen when they spot him. He loves seeing your eyes. It’s the only way he can understand what you are feeling.

In a few moments, a range of emotions passes over your face. Relief. Happiness. And then tears again. Are you sad? Or did he startle you too much?

 _Everything hurts_ but he hopes you don’t.

He’s quick to find out they aren’t bad tears- you still hold on to the katana with great care but your other arm flings itself over his shoulder and you have resorted to sobbing into his bandaged chest instead.

He knows there’s nothing he can say to reassure you-literally. But he feels your breathing calm down when you hear his heart beating.

_Everything hurts but at least you’re here now._

He'd never gotten this close to you, and you'd never done it either. You hadn't known you'd fallen asleep on his shoulder back at Water 7 because Zoro had replaced himself with the reindeer in a wave of embarrassment.

When you pull away to blow your nose -it looks hilarious, even the dainty sniffles before and after- he decides to be even bolder.

"ありがとう"

* * *

"ありがとう"

You are paused in time completely when the swordsman puts his hand on yours. He's now holding the katana as well, but he seems to refuse to let you go so he can take it. And you don't mind. His hands are rough, certainly with the bandages, but they have always been warm. He's always been warm.

* * *

He doesn't let go for at least five minutes, audience be damned. He knows some of the stray pirates and even Chopper is staring. But every bone in his body hurts and your hands are like holy water. You hadn't gotten too hurt. He could tell by the fact that there were no bandages on you. 

You're both stuck in the awkward position until Zoro pulls you up together with Wado Ichimonji and leads you somewhere quiet, somewhere without prying eyes that could alert a certain cook he was getting touchy-feely with a lady.

You stop in the ruins when you signal him that your legs are tired, and you quickly turn a stray rock into a seat as the swordsman is standing still in front of you.

You would guess he wanted to tell you something, until you realized once again he couldn't. Well, he could, but you'd hardly understand.

* * *

It takes him another five minutes to work up the courage.

Mainly because you're staring up at him, as if you're expecting something special, but all he has to give is himself. 

He's never been too careful in his life and when he pulls you up by your collar to kiss your lips,  you quickly hold onto his arms for support. 

You both decide to stay outside a while longer, cheeks dusted with a blush as you hold each other's hands.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "ありがとう" = Thank you
> 
> I don't know if I really like this story but, oh well, here it is. Now time to go make some spaghetti.


End file.
